He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
A devotion for December 4th through the 10th
A few years ago, just a short few, my daughter had the worse mental breakdown she has ever had. It scared me like you cannot imagine. I had never seen her like that before and I had to make some decisions in order to best help her. When she came out of this situation she had been hospitalized for a whole month and was released to a group home instead of going back to her own apartment. At the time it seemed like the best option to help her and keep her safe.
It took a long time for her to recover, not that she is completely recovered. She is back to being like she was before and may be going to her own place again when one can be found that will work for her. But during her recovery there were many, many times filled with heartache for me.
During the summer after this episode, I had an interaction with her in a text message that broke my heart. We had interactions quite often that did not go well. She was mad at me and didn’t agree with the decisions that I had made. Even apologizing did nothing. She continued on rants that were so hurtful, but I just continued to tell her how much I loved her. Then this day, something she said hurt deeply and I felt rejected. I drove home from work crying and talking to God about the situation and what she had said to me.
During this conversation with God I suddenly realized, He felt what I was feeling, because of me! In the same way that my daughter was hurting me with her actions, so I had hurt God by many of the actions I had taken over the years. Every time I had turned my back to Him and followed my own way, He hurt. He felt rejection, just as I was feeling at that moment. This realization made me cry even harder.
We don’t often think that our choices could have a profound effect on God. So profound that it causes Him pain. He feels the same feelings we feel. He knows how we are feeling and knows the pain. This is why he offers us comfort in His word and His promises.
When life gets you down and you feel hurt, remember God knows and He understands. Turn it over to Him and He will heal the hurt as only He can.